Key-action for type-writing and other key-operated machines.



. No. 842,586. y PATTNTED JAN. 29, 1907.

J. T. -SGHAAPR KEY AGTIDN TOR TYPE WRITING AND OTHBRKKEY OPBRATTDYMAoHINs.

` APPLIOATION FILEDv DEO. 13,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

gnvanfoz Witwen N0.842,5s6. I Y PATENTED JAN.29,1907. .J. T. SGHAAPF.

KEY ACTION POR TYPE WRITING AND OTHER KEY OPERATED MACHINE-S. I,

*IAPPLICATION FILED DEO. 13, 1904.

s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907.

V I. T. soIIAATT. v v KEY AGTIoN TOE TYPE WRITING AND oTHEE KEIrOPEEATED MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DBO.13,'1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Mayor/zegge vrafriaxfr oFF'ioE.

JOI-IN THOMAS SCHAAFF, OF- W'ASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD TYPEWRITER COMPANY,

YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW OF NEW JERSEY'- KYEY-ACTIONFOR.TYPE-WRITING AND OTHER KEY-GPERATED MACHINES.

To (all who/lt it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOHN THOMAS SCHAAFF, a citizen of the United States,residing at lVashington, in the District of Columbia,

and other Key-Operated Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to key-actions for type-writing' and otherkey-operated machines, and more particularly to type-writing machines ofthefront-stroke type in which the key-lever is disconnected from thetypebar after the type-bar has; been given the momentum to effect theprinting.

It has for an object to provide another con- L struction in which thedisconnection between the type-bar and the kof-lever takes place afterthe key-lever has completed its movement, this broad idea being thelsubject-m atter of an application filed by me on April 25,

. 19o4,Seria1No. 204,881.

' l. Segment dispose Afurther object is to provide in a machine v inwhich the key-lever and type-bar are disconnected means by which thisdisconnection vmay be prevented, so that the machine will be adapted forheavy work, such as duplicathher objects and advantages will appear inthe following specification and will be more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a type-writingmachine, one key-action only being shown in normal position. Fig.@2 is aView similar to Fig. 1, the key-lever'bein shown at the limit of itsmovement and stil in connection with thet e-bar.

indicatesthe frame, having a power-driven paper-carriage 2, guidedthereon by nzeans of rod 3. 4 indicates the pivot of the typebar 5, thepivot bein as usual in the form ofy vertically below the front face ofthe platen 6, and the type-bars Patented Jan. 29, 1907.

tal position and resting on a segment 7. These are common featnresin atype-writing thereon. In this type of machine the typebar 5 is providednear its pivot with an upward extension 8, to which is pivoted at 9 oneend of a rearwardly-extending horizontal draw-link 10, which ispivotedat 11 to the npperend of a vibratory angle-lever 12. The angle-lever 12is pivoted at its lower end to the base of the frame 1 at 13, andispressed 1 forward by a leaf-spring 1,4, which bears i against its'rearface and tends to return the type-bar toits initial position. The frontface of the angle-lever 12 is provided with notch 15 for a purposehereinafter to be referred to.

at 16 intermediate its ends a key-lever 17, one end of which is held inan'elevated position by a spring 17 a, is provided with a key 18, andhas its downward movement limited by a stop-bar 19, while the other endcarries a pivoted latch 20, extending above and below the key-lever. Theupper portion of the latch 20 is provided with a rearwardly-extendingnose 21, adapted to-enter the notch 15 on the vibratory lever l2 andestablish a connection between the key-lever `17 and oneend tothekey-lever and at its free end extending into a recess 28 in the latch20, causes the nose 21 to enter the notch 15 out of the return-path ofthe vibratory lever 12 when the key-lever 17 has reached -th limit ofits movement.

, The operation of this portion of my invention is as follows: Theparts' being in the po.- sition shown in Fig'. l-that is, the key-le-20-being positioned in the notch 15 of the angle-lever and the type-barbeing in its retracted position, a depression of the ke 18 causestheparts to travel together unti the osition shown in Fig. 2 is reached,the keyever 17 having been stopped by the bar l19. The type-bar 5, link10, and vibratory lever 12 are by the momentuml given them by thekey-lever 17 carried rearwardly until the typo-head strikes the platen6. In moving' rearwardly the vibratory lever- 12 moves i machine, andthereforeno claim is made.- have invented certain new and usefnl Imjproveinents 1n Key-Actions for Type-W rit-mg f the type-bar 5. Aleaf-spring 22, secured et -ver being elevated-the nose 21 of the latchvnormally lying approximately in a horizon- In the lower p art of theframe 1 is pivoted when the key-lever is released vand to move A lOOaway from latch 20, which under the action l scribed is'for the purpose-of illustration only, of spring 22 is moved to the positionY shown indotted lines, Fig. 2, thereby permitting the lever 12 to return to itsinitial position, while thekey-lever v17 is depressed, as shown in Fig.3. Upon the release'of the'key-.lever yit 4returns to its elevatedpositionunder the action of spring 17 a, and the nose 21 of latch 2()enters notch 15 in the vibratory lever u'nder the action of spring 22.

In type-writing machines in which the connection between the type-barand the type-lever is broken to permit the independent return of thetype-bar it is sometimes,

yfor example, in duplicating Work employing.

a number of carbons and a number of sheets of paper desirable tomaintain this comicotion between these parts, so that a heavy blow ofthe type-head against the platen may be secured; This I accomplish byprovidinga rod 24, eccentric-ally mounted on a rotatable disk 25, whichwhen rotated by any suitable means causes .the rod 24 to be thrown intothe path of the depending portion 26 on the latch 20, as shown in -F ig.4, and thereby' vprevent the movement of the latch 2O when thekey-levervhas reached the limit of its downward movement'.

To maintain the vnose 21 of latch-2() in the notch 15, the stop-face ofthe stop-bar 19 is lowered in the frame of the machine. This isaccomplished by mounting the stop-bar -eccentrically on pivots 19 onopposite sides of the machine andpro'viding it with two stop-faces, one,19a, causing the stoppingof the key-lever before the ltype-head hasstruck the platen 6 and the other, 19", permitting I i the key-lever toremain in connection with The rear face of the lever 12a is providedvthe type-bar during the wholemovement of the type-bar. l

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5 the type-bar 5a is pivoted on a hanger4a, and to an upward extension 8a is connected one end of a short link10a, the rear end being connectedto theupper end of a vibratory lever12a, which is pivoted. at its lower end to a bracket 13a, secured to auniversal bar 13b.

with a'projection 12b,.under which engages a leafspring 14a, while thefront face is provided with a projection 12C, provided with 'a notch15a. In this notch engages the nose 21a of a latch 20, pivoted on therear end of a key-lever 17, which is pivoted intermediate its ends at16EL and carries at its front end a key 18a. The latch 20a is normallyheld rearward by a leaf-spring 22a, while the key-lever is normally heldelevated at its front end by means ofra coil-spring 17 b. The

operation of this embodiment is the same as that set forth relative toFigs. l to 4, except that no means is provided for preventing thedisconnection of the type-bar and key-lever, and therefore the stop-bar19li is fixed. I

The construction herein shown and deand thereforeI desire it to beunderstood that I- may within the scope of the appended claims makevarious changes without departing from the spirit of my invention.

,Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a key-action, the combination of a vibratory lever movableautomatically in one direction, a key-lever pivoted intermediate itsends, a pivoted latch carried by one of said parts and forming aconnection between the vibratory lever and the keyelever in the rear ofthe latters pivot, means stopping the key-lever before the vibratorylever reaches the end of its movement, and means causing the pivotedlatch to move and break the connection between the key-lever and thevibratory* lever after the key-lever has been stopped., f 2. In akey-faction, the combination of a part to be actuated, a key-leverpivoted intermediate its ends, a latch pivoted to thev lever in the rearof the pivot ofthe key-lever, a vibratory lever connected to the part tobe actuated and adapted to be engaged by the latch, a spring acting onthe vibratory lever to press the same forwardly, and yielding means forbreaking the engagement between the latch and. the vibratory lever whenthe key-lever is stopped before the part actuated reaches the end of itsforward movement.

3. In a key-action, the combination of a' type-bar having an u wardextension near its pivot, a vibratory ever connected at its upper endwith ,the upper extension on the IOC type-lever andfpivoted at its lowerend, a

spring pressing saidy lever forwardly, a keylever pivoted intermediateits ends, a pivoted latch adapted for connection with theforwardlyressed vibratory lever, and yielding means or breaking theconnection between the latch-and the, vibratory lever when the key-leverisstopped l before the type-bar strikes.

4. In a key-action, the combmatlon of a type-bar, a forwardly-pressedvibratory lever connected at its upper. end with the type` bar andpivotedat its ower end, a'key-lever pivoted-intermediate its ends, alatch pivoted on the key-lever in the rear of the pivot-,fofl thekey-lever, and a spring carried b /the keylever and acting on thelatch/to break the connection between the keye'lever and the vibratorylever when thefkiey-lever is stopped before the type-'ba/,nstrikea andto make said connection..-whethe key-lever has been rvleased.

5. In a key-action, the combination with a type-bar and a key-lever, ofalmeans for causing a` disconnection -between the key-lever and the`type-bar, after the stopping of the key-lever 4before the type-bar.strikes, and means for preventing-the disconnection.

6. In a key-action, the combination with l the type-bar'and thekey-lever, of a trip interposed in the connection between the kev-leverand the type-bar to permit the type-bar to return independently of thekey-lever, a spring for causing the tripping action, and means engagingthe trip to prevent operation.

7. In a key-action, the combination with a type-bar anda key-lever, of atrip interposed between the key-lever and the typebar, and meansengaging the trip to preventv its operation, comprising va rotatabledisk and a rod'eccentrically carried by the disk.

8'. In a key-action, the combination with the key-leverand the type-bar,of a latch forming a' connection between the key-lever and the type-bar,a spring acting on -the latch to cause a disconnection between thekey-lever and the type-bar after the key-lever is stopped before the endof thestriking or im pression movement of the type-bar, means engagingthe trip t0 prevent the disconnection and means Jfor stopping thekey-lever before'the type-bar has reached the end'ofits kimpressionmovement7 said means being movable to permit the key-lever to move withthe=typelever to the end of its movement. t 9. In-a key-action, thecombination with Y the type-bar, and the key-lever, of means-forstopping the key-lever before the type-bar Areaches the limit of itsmovement,'said meansbeing movable to permit the key-lever to move withthe type-bar to the end of. its m`ovement, means causing a disconnectionof the key-lever `and the type-bar when the keylever is stopped beforethe type-bar reaches the end of lts movement, and means`for preventingthe disconnection.

JOHN THTQMAS SCI-IAAFF. Inpresence off EDWIN S. CLARKsoN, H. WHITE.

